The good old walkie talkie will still have a place in most businesses, but Motorola being a technology company they are always innovating, they are underpinning their future communications on data, currently date networks cannot cope with this but as the technology grows, Motorola will be able to produce handsets, motorola accessories and communications that will seamlessly use this without any problem, we look forward to the future.Â

Motorola Solutions CTO Paul Steinberg explains how data and enhanced communications can make cities safer â even if theyâre not smart just yet

The first is to advance the companyâs technology with his team of engineers and data scientists, the second is to drive its patent strategy (âWhat patents we get and what we do with themâ) and the third is to invest in startups so MSI can get access to something it doesnât have.

This might seem like a very narrow focus but itâs a market in which the present day Motorola senses a great opportunity as emergency services update their infrastructure to improve service and cut cost.

These upgrades will power what MSI sees as the big trend in public safety: the coupling of communications with data analytics, a vision it recently outlined at Critical Communications World (CCW) in Amsterdam.

â[Mission critical communications are] every bit as important as they have been and we expect [them] to be tomorrow,â explains Steinberg.

âMission critical intelligence brings in connecting things â data. It becomes more about context and situational awareness. The investments weâre making are more in that direction.

âOne of the things weâve been working on is the connected first responder. What we did was we built a context engine thatâs at the heart.â

Context engine

The âcontext engineâ built by MSI brings together various different inputs. For example, Bluetooth connectivity can unite weapons, body sensors and imaging equipment to give a police force a greater overview of a situation.

Steinberg explains a scenario where if the context engine detects a weapon has been fired and a policeman is not at a station or at a firing range, their video camera will automatically switch on. Other situations could give a paramedic of firefighter additional information, possibly through wearable technology.

âWhy did we do the Context engine? âEyes open, hands freeâ: keep focussed on what youâre doing and keep your hands available to do what you need to do,â saidÂ Steinberg.

âWe envisage this working as an ecosystem with well-designed interfaces around the core context engine. We see ecosystem partners offering applications and hardware. And some pieces of those we will offer as Motorola. We see it increasingly as a software problem.â

Steinberg favours acquisitions as a way of advancing his goals and MSI has venture capital operations to fund the third part of his remit. MSI monitors the development of numerous early stage companies with a view to boosting its own business.

â[Takeovers] give us technology or a skillset that we canât do properly [ourselves],â he explains. âIf the concept looks like it has legs, thatâs when we make the decision. In some cases we donât proceed.â

Sometimes the target is more established.Â MSI has bought Airwave for Â£817 million, a move which it is believed will help accelerate the transition to next generation systems. Airwave currently powers the pre-ESN communications capability of the UK emergency services and Steinberg sees the acquisition as a method to migrate customers rather than innovate.

âIt brings us another data point but it doesnât really change how my team works,â he says. âItâs a company that helps us ensure we have an orderly migration.â

Smart cities and smart vehicles

MSI says the Context Engine and its vision of data-supported communications will be strengthened by theÂ parallel development of smart cities;Â even if itâs too early to have any impact right now. Steinberg describes âshotspotterâ technology capable of detecting when and where a gunshot is fired, aiding emergency services, and believes smart cars will also play a role.

âI think as the city becomes smarter, we can benefit from the environment,â he predicts. âWe can fuse that together and help facilitate real time decision making. The next mobile platform is the vehicle. I think that will create some interesting opportunities for us.â

But the very nature of emergency services means technological jumps are not to be taken lightly. A technical hiccup can mean the matter between life and death and although political reasons might have delayed the transition to LTE, concerns about reliability will have played a role too.

Steinberg agrees and is adamant that no matter what advances are made, MSI will not jeopardise the basics.

âThe foundation of our business is communications and it always will be,â he states. âMaking sure our platform is resilient, usable and mission critical in harsh environments while layering on this intelligence.â

SO youâre walking down the street and suddenly the music kicks in, you drop to the ground and pull your earphones out of your ears! âwhat just happenedâ you think, then you realise the un-pause on the mp3 has just kicked in and you forgot to turn it down. Well people this will be a problem of the past with these earphones, Now all I need them to do is make coffee. VERY IMPORTAN You can find the original article here

Whatâs been your favorite set this weekend? Or the best new track youâve shared with all of your friends? Well take that track and imagine listening to it in exactly the way your ears want you to.

Meet theÂ EvenÂ earphones, who tune themselves to each personâs particular hearing. At just under $100, they customize the sounds they play to suit your own audio needs. They use their own EarPrint technology that measures how you hear different frequencies, then sets the earphones toÂ play back sound specifically for each ear. As a result, theÂ headphones give you aÂ profile tuned to your own ear (each ear with its own profile).

One of the biggest things that originally drew me to the earphones was the fact that they are not a pre-order campaign â they have physical earbuds available now. The company, whoÂ launched in in June, has sold out batches twice thus far and are continuing to take orders on their website. Luckily, I was able to get my hands on a pair to try out as well.

Iâm pretty picky about the gadgetsÂ I use for audio, as Iâm constantly listening to music â digging for new sets on Soundcloud, reviewing new tracks, jamming outÂ in my own world. Being able to plug in and listen to my own musicÂ isÂ what allows me to focus and, as a result, Iâm very specific about the type of earphones or headphonesÂ I use. That being said, I was overly ecstatic when I was handed a pair of Even earphones to try out.

First, their appearance: the cords are aÂ high-quality string that have a smooth look and feel. The budsÂ look sleek, with a simple black-and-white color scheme â one black, one white, with the EarPrint device hanging at the middle of the cord, meant to dangle at your chest. They donât tangle easily, which makes them easier to carry without having to worry about dealing with knots. Theyâre the type of earphones I wouldnât mind wearing out in public.

Next: the sound test. This is where we meet âSarah,â the soothing female voice that guides you through a number of sounds to test where your hearing level is at. This test was very straightforward â Sarah literally starts by saying âHi, this is really easyâ â and felt very conversational as sheÂ talked you through each noise. Five pieces of music are played for each ear, and youâre required to hit the button once you hear the sound. Though the process takes a little bit longer than Iâd like, itâs seamless.

Overall quality of the listening experience was great. I switched between my Bose over-ear headphones and the Even earphones to test the difference in sound quality and worked to try a few subgenres of electronic music to see how each would sound between both pairs. I started off by listening toÂ Louis The Childâs set from Lollapalooza this yearÂ and instantly found that the vocals were much more emphasized than in my Bose headphones. Next, I moved on toÂ Mikey Lionâs live set from Desert Hearts 2016Â andÂ lovedÂ the emphasis on the bass I was hearing â the Even earphones made it much more of an all-around experience. I then switched over to Troyboiâs tracksÂ Do You?Â andÂ O.G.Â to continue to test this bass theory and, again, Even delivered.

As my hearing is likely damaged based on the amount of festivals and shows Iâve attended over my lifetime, it was much appreciated that the earphones were able to pick up on the frequencies I have more trouble hearing to create the full experience tracks deserve. Interestingly enough, every time I switched back to my Bose headphones to compare, I had to turn the volume down because it came at full blast and was overwhelming â and, when I did, the clarity between vocals and bass was lost. All in all, these babies pack a punch with their sound quality when it comes to electronic music.

Itâs refreshing that these earphonesÂ donât require using an app, since that seems so commonplace nowadays. All of the information that goes into your profile is saved in the little box hanging onto the string, so you can plug them into any device â phone, laptop, iPod, whatever you want â and still have your own profile saved. I found this extremelyÂ helpful, as it meant that I donât have to re-adjust my volume based on what device Iâm using. Beyond that, itâs a refreshing change from listening to sets with friends and having to change the volume based on everyoneâs sensitivities. It makes listening much simpler and, quite frankly, electronic music better. How could you say no to a custom-made, surround-sound system in your own ears?

To get you started, here a few sets, old and new, you may enjoy listening to in the earphones (ok, to be fair, these are sets thatÂ IÂ would want to hear in them):

We are seeing a new era in communications at the moment, the move from tetra and RF to the mobile network. The ukâs emergency services will be moved over to EEâs ESN system slowly until 2020 using Motorola kit designed particularly for the technology. The natural evolution is 5G, which we wonât see for many years, but Ericsson have taken the baton and are running with it.

World’s first commercial 5G New Radio (NR) radio for massive MIMO and Multi-user MIMO coming in 2017

New additions to Ericsson Radio System address key requirements of 5G, in today’s networks

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) is commercializing the world’s first 5G NR radio for massive MIMO, with the first deployments coming in 2017. Together with the Ericsson 5G Plug-Ins announced in June and Ericsson’s already commercially available Radio System Baseband 5216, which currently powers Ericsson’s award-winning Radio Test Bed, Ericsson is first to deliver all components of a 5G access network.

Tom Keathley, senior vice president, Wireless Network Architecture and Design, AT&T, says: “As we accelerate toward 5G, it’s beneficial to have a flexible radio platform that can be deployed not only for LTE, but also versions of future 5G NR standards.”

AIR 6468 combines advanced antennas with a large number of steerable ports to enable 5G technologies of beamforming, Massive MIMO and — building on that — Multi-user MIMO, initialized as MU-MIMO. These capabilities improve user experience while enhancing the capacity and coverage of the network and reducing interference. The new radio provides LTE support as well, so it is applicable in today’s networks.

Huang Yuhong, Deputy Head, China Mobile Research Institute (CMRI), says: “Massive-MIMO, also known as 3D MIMO, is an important milestone in China Mobile’s technology roadmap from 4G to 5G. We are very happy that Ericsson’s new radio product is coming to market soon to meet our needs and enable us to integrate 5G technologies into our existing networks.”

A host of new additions to the Ericsson Radio System are also coming that address key 5G requirements, in today’s networks.

Daniel Staub, Head of Joint Mobile Group, Swisscom, says: “On the road to 5G, we will continue to invest in LTE advancements that will become part of our 5G networks. For us, it is key that Ericsson has chosen to focus on advances that will support us in this evolution. These enhancements will further improve the customer experience.”

Additional new Ericsson Radio System gear addresses 5G concepts

Three new radios support Gigabit speeds for LTE and provide further flexibility in design: Radio 4407 and Radio 4412 enable 4×4 MIMO in one radio unit for FDD and TDD mode respectively, and Radio 8808 for advanced TDD beamforming applications

Addressing both the need for unlicensed spectrum options and the growing emphasis on small cells is the Radio 2205, a micro solution on unlicensed spectrum that is fully integrated in Ericsson Radio System, using the same baseband and network management

Two new baseband units support the growing need for densification: the outdoor micro Baseband 6502 and macro Baseband 6303 with Ericsson Rail System mounting for flexible site builds

Addressing interference issues in dense builds, Baseband P614 enables new band activation on challenging sites by mitigating Passive Inter Modulation, referred to as PIM mitigation, from static and dynamic sources both inside and outside the antenna system

Spectrum optimization is a growing need and Uplink Spectrum Analyzer is an Ericsson-unique software solution to remotely identify external interference without the need for costly measurement equipment and site visits

Exclusive to Ericsson is instant power sharing, used in the wideband Radio 2242. This capability allows power to be instantly shared between carriers, standards and bands, optimizing the use of radio resources

Cloud RAN will be an important 5G network architecture and Baseband C608 provides high-performance switching in Elastic RAN deployments

Peter Jarich, Vice President, Consumer and Infrastructure Services, Current Analysis, says: “Mobile operators, today, are clearly focused on the race to 5G commercialization, while also continuing to invest in their existing LTE networks. With a new 5G radio and LTE offerings which echo key 5G concepts – small cells, licensed-unlicensed band combinations, Cloud RAN, network densification, spectrum optimization – Ericsson’s new portfolio additions and Ericsson Radio System innovations provide a compelling way forward.”

To support new network builds, Ericsson has created the industry’s first Industrialized Network Rollout Services solution. The Network Deployment Delivery Platform coupled with Ericsson’s pioneering process facilitates the complete configuration, installation, integration, shakedown and handover of a fully verified site, ready in a single site visit.

Arun Bansal, Head of Business Unit Network Products, Ericsson, says: “Ericsson has driven innovation in every generation of mobile technology and now we are set to over-deliver on an aggressive promise. We are introducing the new hardware that 5G Plug-Ins, announced in June, will run on, so that the first operators can start to deploy 5G infrastructure.Â And, we are also launching innovations that improve both the performance and efficiency of today’s networks using concepts that will evolve into 5G.”

We all know how important radio communications are and at a time before the internet and even digital communications, governments relied on RF communications that were susceptible to the suns solar storms, if you add that to the cold war nuclear tensions then we could all be living in holes now.

In September 1983, for example, sunlight reflecting off a patch of clouds fooled a Soviet missile-warning system into detecting the launch of five US intercontinental ballistic missiles that never were. A wary colonel in a bunker ignored the alarm onÂ a 50/50 hunch.

Two months later, US forces staged “Able Archer 83” â a massive nuclear-strike drill on the doorstep of the USSR. Soviet commanders panicked at the show of force and nearly bathed America in thermonuclear energy. Once again, an act of human doubtÂ saved the planet.

“The storm made its initial mark with a colossal solar radio burst causing radio interference … and near-simultaneous disruptions of dayside radio communication,” a group of atmospheric scientists and military weather service personnel wrote in a new study, published August 9 in the journalSpace Weather.

“Such an intense, never-before-observed solar radio burst was interpreted as jamming,” the study authors wrote. “Cold War military commanders viewed full scale jamming of surveillance sensors as a potential act of war.”

A ‘Great Storm’

Earth’s magnetic field protects life on the planet by corralling the sun’s high-energy particles toward the planet’s polar regions.

powerful geomagnetic storms.

This not only leads to beautiful auroras, but can also scramble wireless communications and disrupt radar systems.

The Air Weather Service (AWS) â a relatively new branch of the Air Force â had warned military leadership about the possibility of a solar storm, but US commanders believed the Soviet forces were jammingÂ NORADÂ systems designed to detect threatening planes and missiles.

As the Strategic Air Command warmed up the engines of bombers and taxied toward the runway, the decision to go airborne may have been kicked all the way up to the “highest levels of government,” possibly involving President Lyndon B. Johnson.

“Just in time, military space weather forecasters conveyed information about the solar storm’s potential to disrupt radar and radio communications,” according to aÂ press release from the American Geophysical Union. “The planes remained on the ground and the U.S. avoided a potential nuclear weapon exchange with the Soviet Union.”

“Had it not been for the fact that we had invested very early on in solar and geomagnetic storm observations and forecasting, the impact [of the storm] likely would have been much greater,” study leader and UCAR atmospheric scientist Delores Knipp said in the release.

After the near miss, the researchers say the military learned to listen to its space weather forecasters, improve its abilities to see another looming “Great Storm,” and avert the first and perhaps final global nuclear exchange.

Icom and ham radio go hand-in-hand, one of their main markets is supplying top of the range equipment, this IC-7300 follows on from the wonderful IC-F7200 (which is a favourite in the office) and sits along side the new range of digital IC-F1000 & 2000 radios that are going really well, but have a new connector type, so new icom earpieces are needed. Read the comprehensive review we found from theÂ swling.com website.

In August 2015 at the Tokyo Hamfair, Icom debuted a new type of transceiver in their product lineââone featuring a direct RF sampling receiver. Essentially, it was an SDRtabletopÂ transceiver.

At about the same time that the IC-7300 started shipping around the world, Icom pulled their venerable IC-7200 off the market. Yet the IC-7200 was established as a well-loved product,Â due toÂ itsÂ highly sensitive receiver, its relatively robust front end, and its quality audio. Moreover, itÂ was simple to operate, which made superbÂ as aÂ Field Day or radio club rig.

Therefore,Â even though the IC-7300 promised much more versatility than the IC-7200, for its price point it had a tough act to follow.

So, of courseââevenÂ more so than with any other radio Icom has introduced in the past few yearsââI was eager to get my hands on aÂ IC-7300. Â Iâm very fortunate that my good friend, Dave Anderson (K4SV) was one of the first purchasers of the IC-7300, and that he didnât mind (after only having the rig perhaps one week!)Â allowing me to borrow it for a severalÂ weeks forÂ evaluation.

Note: Â I should state here that since this rig was loaned to me, I evaluated itÂ based on the firmware version it shipped with, and made no modifications to it.

This review primarily focuses on the receiverâs performance, functionality and usability.

Introducing the Icom IC-7300

In recent years, the âbig threeâ ham radio manufacturers have been using color displays,Â andââIcom most especiallyââtouch screens. While Iâm no fan of backlit touch screens in mobile applications, I Â think touch screen displays make a lot of sense in a base radio. If carefully designed, a touch screen can save an operator from heavily-buried menus and decrease the number of multi-function buttons on the front panel.

The challenge, of course, is making a display with intuitive controls, and one that is large enough, and with sufficientÂ resolution, to be useful to the operator. In the past, Iâve been disappointed by many displays; the most successful have been incorporated in DX/Contest-class (i.e., pricier) transceivers, meanwhile, entry-level and mid-priced transceiver displays often seem half-baked. WhileÂ the graphics may beÂ crisp, spectrum displays at this price point are often too compressed to be useful, and if not a touch display,Â force the user to pause operation in order to find the correct knob or button to change settings. In suchÂ cases, I find myself wonderingÂ why the manufacturer went to the expense of a color display at allââ?

But what about theÂ C-7300 display? Â Iâm thoroughly pleasedÂ to reportÂ that Icom did afantasticjob of balancing utility and function in design of the IC-7300âs color touch display and front panel. There are Â number of ways you can chose to display and arrange elements on the screenâsince Iâm an SDR fan, I typically chose a display setting which gave the waterfall the most real estate. Of course, one can chose to give the frequency display priority or a number of other arrangements.

User interface

I can tell that Icom built upon their experience with the IC-7100ââtheir first entry-level touch screen display transceiver.

I was able to get the IC-7300 on the air in very little time. Within five minutes of turning on the IC-7300, I was ableÂ to:

change the display to feature a spectrum waterfall;

change the span of the waterfall display;

adjust the TX power output;

change the filters selection and the transmit mode;

change bands and make direct-frequency entries;

adjust notch, passband, and filter width;

adjust AF and RF gain;

set A/B VFOs and operate split;

change AGC settings;

turn on Noise Reduction/Noise Blanker, and

adjust compression.

Basically, I found that all the essential functions are clearly laid out, accessible, and highly functional. Â Impressive.

The IC-7300 ships with a manualââ aptly titled, the âBasicâ manualââand a CD with the full and unabridged operations manual. Â The Basic Manual covers a great dealÂ a lot more than the manual which accompanied theÂ Icom ID-51a. If you read through the manual, youâll readilyÂ familiarize yourself withÂ most of the IC-7300âs higher function operations,Â and especially, youâll be able to adjust the settings to your operation style. The Manual is written in simple language, and includes a lot of diagrams and graphics.

If youâre like me, you will find youâll also need to reference that unabridged manual, so hang on to the CD, too.

Still, I imagine thereâs a large percentage of future IC-7300 owners that will never need to reference the manualââespecially if they donât care about tweaking band edges or similar settings. Yes, believe it or not, itâs that easy to use.

Operation

While I spent a great deal of time listening to CW and SSB in various band conditions and at various times of day, I spent less time on the air transmitting.

With that said, all of my transmitting time was in CW since the IC-7300 mic was accidentally left outÂ when my friendÂ loanedÂ me the rig.

Iâm please to report that CW operation is quite pleasant. All of the adjustmentsââRF Power, Key Speed, and CW Pitchââcan be quickly modifiedÂ using the multi-function knob. While in CW mode, you can also toggle full break-in mode,Â which is quite smooth,Â via the function button and touch screen.

SSB functions are similar. While in Â SSB mode, the multi-function knob allows you to change the tx power, mic gain, and monitor level. The function button opens an on-screen menu with VOX, compression, TBW, and the monitor toggle.

Of course, my smartphonesâs microphone canât accurately reproduce the audio from the IC-7300, but you probably get the idea.

The only annoyance I notedââand perhaps Iâm more sensitive to this, being primarilyÂ a QRPerââis that the 7300âs cooling fan starts up each timeÂ you key up. It even comes on when transmit power is at its lowest setting. I find this a little distracting in CW. Â Fortunately, however, the 7300âs fan is fairlyÂ quiet and operates smoothly.

Below, Iâve matched the labels (Radio A/Radio B) with the radio models. Â Iâve also included pie charts which show the results from the survey.

Icom IC-7300 vs. WinRadio Excalibur

Weak Signal CW (40 meter band)

Based on listener comments, those of you who preferred the â7300Â did so because the CW was more interpretable and stable.

Some of you noted that I didnât quite have CW at the same pitch on both rigs. I believe this is because the IC-7300âs calibration was ever soÂ slightly off. This has since been addressed.

Weak/Strong SSB QSO (40 meter band)

This result was almost tied. The Excaliburâs audioââwithout any adjustmentsââhas a fuller and âbassierâ sound. The â7300 can be adjusted to have similar characteristics,Â but the default EQ settings produce very flat audio. Many of you commented that the IC-7300 more faithfully produced audio optimized for SSB.

Shortwave Broadcast recordings

The following recordings were made on the 31 meter broadcastÂ band in the evening. Both radios had the same filter width: 9 kHz and 8.2 kHz.

Weak Shortwave AM (Radio Bandeirantes 31 meter band)

There was a noticeable preference for the WinRadio Excalibur in this particular audio set. Even though the Excaliburâs audio splattered a bit, the content was more interpretable. The IC-7300âs audio sounded flat in comparisonââagain, something that can be adjusted quite easily in the â7300âs audio settings.

Once again, the Excalibur won favor, but I imagine results would have been closer had I adjusted the â7300âs audio EQ.

MediumwaveÂ Broadcast recordings

Note that the following mediumwave recordings were made during the morning hours (grayline). The strong station is the closest AM broadcaster to my home;Â itâs not a blow-torch âClass Aâ type station, merely the closest local broadcaster.

In the âweakâ sample, IÂ tuned to 630 kHz where multiple broadcasters could be heard on frequency,Â but one was dominant.

Both radios are set to a filter width of 9.0 kHz.

Strong Mediumwave AM (1010 kHz)

Two out of three listeners preferred the Excalibur in this example.

Weak Mediumwave AM (630 kHz)

In this particular example, the IC-7300 could not pull the strongest broadcaster out of the pile as well as the WinRadio Excalibur. In fairness, the Excalibur was using AM sync detection,Â something the IC-7300 lacks.

Icom IC-7300 vs. Elecraft KX3

Based on comments, readers who preferred the IC-7300 felt the CW sounded more pleasant and stable.

Audio Clip 2: Weak Signal CW (20 meter band)

Your comments indicatedÂ that the CW seemed to âpop outâ of the noise slightly better withÂ the IC-7300.

Audio Clip 3: Weak/Strong SSB

(Sable IslandÂ working Asia/Pacific onÂ 20 meter band)

These results were spilt in the middle. Again, I believe this comesÂ down to personal preference in theÂ audio. And againââin both radiosââthe audio EQ can be adjusted to suit the operator.

Receiver performance summary

I enjoy producing audio clips for readers to compareÂ and comment upon. Each time Iâve done so in the past, Iâve had listeners argue the virtues of a particular audio clip while others have the complete opposite reaction to that same clip. Not all of us prefer our audio served up in the same way. No doubt, thereâs a great deal ofÂ subjectivity in this sort of test.

Iâve had the IC-7300 on the air every day since I took possession of it. Iâve listened to SSB, CW, and lots of AM/SW broadcasters.

And hereâs my summary: the IC-7300 is an excellent receiver. It has a low noise floor, superb sensitivity and excellent selectivity. I even slightly prefer its audio to that of my Elecraft KX3,Â and Iâm a huge fan of the little KX3.

Iâve written before about how difficult it is to compare SDRs;Â the problem is that there are so many ways to tweak your audio, filters, AGC, noise reduction, etc. that itâs hard to compare apples with apples.

In the audio samples above, the IC-7300 and WinRadio Excalibur were both set to their default audio settings. In SSB and CW, the IC-7300 excels, in my opinion. CW seems to pop out of the noise better and SSB is more pleasant and interpretable. The Excalibur has a better audio profile for AM broadcasters, though. Its default audio simply sounds fullerâmore robust.

The audio from the IC-7300 on AM sounded absolutely flat. However, if I tweak the audio of the â7300, adding more bass, it instantlyÂ sounds more like a dedicated tabletop receiver.

I should also mention that while the IC-7300âs built-in digital recording is a fantastic and effective feature, it doesnât produce audio true to whatâsÂ heard through headphones live. This is especially the case when you add more bass and treble response as in the RRI example above. When the audio EQ is set to a default flat, itâs quiteÂ accurate.

In a nutshell: Icom has hit a home run with the IC-7300. Â If I didnât already have an Elecraft KX3 and K2, I would buy the IC-7300 without hesitation.

Though the price point is a little high for an âentry level transceiver,â itâs worth every penny, in my opinion. For $1500 US, you get a fantastic general-coverage transceiver with an intuitive interface, nearly every function you can imagine, and performance that would please even a seasoned DXer.

Though I havenât done and A/B comparison with the IC-7200, I imagine the IC-7300 would prevail in a test. The IC-7300 would certainly wipe the floor with itâs more economical brother, the IC-718.

Radio clubs,Â take note:

In my view, the IC-7300 has the makings ofÂ an excellent radio club rig in whichÂ performance, functionality, as well as ease of use are important. I expect that the IC-7300 will not only cope very well with crowded and crazy Field Day conditions, but it will also give any newcomers to the hobby a little experience with a proper modern transceiver. The fact that you can viewÂ signals so easily on the spectrum display means that it will be easier to chase contacts and monitor bands as they open and close. Indeed, what better way to mentor a newly-minted ham in modes, contacts, carriers, QRN, QRM, and so forth,Â than to simply pointÂ theseÂ out on the IC-7300âs bright,Â clearÂ displayââ?

If your club is considering a transceiver upgrade or purchase, do seriously consider the IC-7300. I think youâll find this rig isÂ up to the task.

And for home? The Icom IC-7300 may be all of the rig youâll ever need.

If youâre planning a family outing where youâll camp for several days, or if youâre headed for an amusement packed backpacking expedition with friends, you might want to know where to buy two-way radioÂ communication systems. These gadgets are very small in size, and you can go with them wherever you want to as most of them weigh less than half a pound and you can hardly feel burdened by them as you hike.

Additionally, they come in very handy in regions where cell phones cannot dare venture. Some top quality walkie talkies can provide a huge array of features such as weather alerts as well as SOS signals. 2wayradionline.co.uk Â has all kinds of two-way radios including the newest types that come with better-quality frequency options as well as radio ranges.

Types of two-way radios

Bearing in mind that thereâs a myriad of two-way radio systems available in the market, arguably the most important question to ask yourself if you want to buy a walkie talkie is: whatâs the best choice? However, this isnât a very hard decision once you understand where and how youâll use it. Firstly, youâll need to pick either of the two main kinds of two-way radios, which are family or consumer walkie talkies and professional business walkie talkies.

Within both kinds, you would also want to decide whether a radio system with licensed or unlicensed band is most suitable for you. On the one hand, licensed radios come with powerful 5W frequency transmissions and a wider coverage range. However, youâll have to be contented with a frequency fee. On the other hand, unlicensed band walkie talkies attract no fees, but theyâre comparatively low in power plus a limited range thatâs only suitable for casual users.

You would also want to decide between an analogue and a digital walkie talkie. Some businesses search for radio systems that can operate suitably in risky highly explosive environments. Radios with ATEX certification are highly recommended in such areas. You can find all these kinds of walkie talkies and more at 2 way radio online

VHF or UHF walkie talkies?

An important consideration when looking to buy walkie talkie is keeping in mind that Ultra High Frequency (UHF) radios will be your best purchase in most cases. Essentially, a UHF radio can never send or receive communication to a Very High Frequency (VHF) radio. As such, if you have some walkie talkies and youâre only looking to add some more units to be used with what you already have, go for the same band.

VHF radios can provide more coverage with less power, but they only function well when thereâs little interference between the sender and the receiver. UHF walkie talkies function best with most users since they have shorter waves and can penetrate or get around areas of interference such as hilly areas, thickly wooded areas, in buildings as well as in urban outdoor settings. If youâll use your radios strictly indoors or if itâs a combination of indoors and outdoors, then UHF is the best choice. You can choose from some of the best VHF and UHF two-way radios at 2wayradionline.co.uk

We have all watched star trek orÂ ‘Allo ‘Allo!Â (bare with us) and wondered how we can understand all the different languages. Well it is all down to the tardis! It translatesÂ the persons speech from their mouth to your ear so you can understand in perfectÂ English.Â But nowÂ you don’t need to keep a Tardis about with you, as they have designed a earpiece that can translate different languages, just pop it into your ear and talk to some foreigners. You can find the original article here.

How many times did you give up on befriending a foreign national due to language problem? Even if you have befriended the person who doesn’t speak your language, it becomes difficult to converse with him or her. You always feel Â the need to have a translator, whether it is a face-to-face conversation or a telephonic interaction.

Technology has the solution for any or every kind of problem in this world. It is advancing day-by-day so language barrier can no longer make you behave like an alien. Communicating with a foreign national in real time is no longer a pain as a company has come up with the Pilot earphones that let two people who speak different languages communicate smoothly with each other.

So there won’t be any awkward pause the next time you speak with your friend who doesn’t know your language. Also, there is no need to consult either a dictionary or search online the next time you want to talk to your French or Spanish friend.

In fact, Wavery Labs, a New York-based company that launched the wireless earphones, will add more languages as soon as possible. Currently the earphone translates only three languages – English, French and Spanish. The company will soon add Italian to its list.

You must be wondering about its functions. It works when you connect the earphones to two different people, speaking different languages and translates what they say in the ear.

Waverly Labs calls it the first ‘smart earpiece’. But it hasn’t disclosed much detail about how it works. According to the company, the earphone uses “translation technology” embedded in an app. The Pilot will cost $129 (around Rs. 8,646) and will be available for pre-order on their website.

Take a second and look at Human beings, really look at us. Weâre not as strong as elephants or rhinos, weâre not as tough as lions or tigers and we can neither swim like fish nor fly like birds. Yet, despite all this, there is still one inescapable fact: Human beings are the dominant species on the planet.

The short answer to your question lies implicitly within the above paragraph. With good communication skills, a group of disparate individuals can overcome a great many obstacles by working together. It is believed that our earliest ancestors were able to ward off predators by sticking together in large groups and thus presenting a formidable target (as opposed to, say, a buffet). We were also able to hunt prey much larger and stronger than ourselves (e.g. the woolly mammoth) by co-ordinating our efforts with good communication skills.

Such good communication skills are, not to put too fine a point on it, vitally important to the Human race as a whole. This excerpt from âMutual Aid: A Factor of Evolutionâ by Russian author Peter Kropotkin (1902), illustrates what weâre trying to say better than we ever could.

âMan is the result of both his inherited instincts and his education. Among the miners and the seamen, their common occupations and their every-day contact with one another create a feeling of solidarity, while the surrounding dangers maintain courage and pluckâ

In other words, their shared lifestyle is a form of communication, the result of learned social primers and a lifetime of experience. It is the secret ingredient to our success as a species.

Good communication skills in the workplace operate along the same basic principles as they do outside the workplace. The goal is clarity, but equally, the speaker wishes to illustrate her point of view and encourage others to sympathize with it. This is why politicians pay their speechwriters as handsomely as they do.

Communication skills are also Vital to Human interaction. Humans are able to learn all sorts of things by listening for verbal cues that we are unconsciously primed to respond to. Information about a speakerâs age, class, race, gender and even occupation can be gleaned from the simple act of listening to a person. To quote Peter Trudgillâs book âSociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Societyâ (1974),

âDifferent social groups use different linguistic varieties, and as experienced members of a speech community we have learnt to classify speakers accordinglyâ, for those interested – this is known as âsocial-class dialectsâ.

You might ask how this affects you. Well, consider this; if you are applying for a typically upper or middle class job (say, office manager as an example) and you speak with a traditionally working-class accent, vocabulary and demeanour during your interview, you are actually less likely to get the job than the applicant who uses received pronunciation and does not use colloquialisms or slang terms. You might be more qualified on paper, but the interviewer will likely say something about you not being âthe right fitâ for the position. This is because he has been primed to expect a certain type for a certain role. Therefore, good communications skills, in this instance at least, would hinge on your ability to appeal to listeners by meeting their expectations.

Of course, we now know that such distinctions are unfair. Combating expectations of class, race, gender and sexual stereotyping led to the rise of âpolitical correctnessâ, a much-maligned (and often justly so) and yet consistently misunderstood phenomenon.

For a more extreme example, imagine giving an obscenity-laced PowerPoint presentation at your next meeting. Once you stop laughing, consider the implications even if everything in the presentation was 100% accurate, (groundbreaking, even) youâd still be fired, wouldnât you? Swearing is, of course, a lower-class way of communicating.

You need to find the correct words for the correct situation, but evidently, there has been a great deal of discussion as to what are the correct words.

If you want to know more, the poem âThe Six OâClock Newsâ (1976) by Scottish poet Tom Leonard is a good place to start. In the UK, we study it as part of GCSE English (or at least we did when this writer was at school), and the poem neatly highlights the social and class-based distinctions that typified (and still do to some extent) ânormalâ speech and any important announcements..

So, in conclusion, communication skills are important because without them, nobody would be able to understand YOU.

Imagine this, you’re in charge of the 30 volunteers working your son’s annual cross-country club event. With one week to go, you’re wondering how you’ll be able to communicate with them all, spread out across a 150-acre course – not to mention trying to pay for expensive communication devices on a limited budget.

ORâ¦A security firm has just landed a lucrative contract at several convention centers spread across the United States, but needs a way to share important information with any or all of its officers at a moment’s notice.

One of the biggest financial drains on any company is its investment in equipment that depreciates or becomes obsolete within the space of 3-5 years, regardless of the amount of money thrown at said assets.

With regard to communication equipment, some items- such as phones, computers and paging systems- must be purchased for use on a permanent basis. But unless Purchasing can reinvent the wheel, these purchases still represent money down the drain.

In addition, how does a company address business-driven fluctuations in staff, and the resultant security, safety, and customer service issues? Purchasing communication equipment that will be used for one week, then set aside for months afterward- only to be misplaced, damaged or stolen before it can be used again- is an expensive way to run a business.

How much better to work with a 2 way radio hire company; one that will not only provide the best service and selection, but also tailor state-of-the-art equipment to your organization’s specific needs.

There are few things more vital to an organization’s well-being and security than effective and efficient communication. Schools, public safety agencies, hospitals, the agriculture industry, stores, construction sites, and airports are only a few of the many entities that rely on rapid communication for the very existence.

Given the unstable state of the economy, equipment rental has become the best of all possible solutions for companies with shrinking budgets. Aside from the fact that rental expenses are tax deductible, the 2 way radios themselves are designed for ease of use, and built to withstand the most rugged of conditions.

2 way radio has come a long way since its first use by police departments in the early 1930’s. In equal measure, the more recent transition from analog to digital signal represents a quantum leap forward in features, capability and efficiency.

2 way radio gives everyone involved a solution that offers value for money and an affordable way to the problem of anti-social behavior. In fact after paying for the handset there is no rental or call charges. With robust and reliable two way radios being it has never been easier for business owners to stay in touch and make their premises as safe and free of trouble as possible.

It is understood that ear moulded plugs are far more comfortable and effective than the mushroom plugs, but which ones are the best? The Custom fit or generic fit. This article runs over the positives and negatives of that question and comes to a conclusion, if your debating to get some moulded ear plugs or some from the shelf, you will want to read this first.

Over the past 20 years,Â In Ear MonitorsÂ (orÂ IEMs) have become a near-necessity for live performance.

In years prior, engineers would inevitably have to crank up a venueâs stage monitors loud enough for the musicians to hear themselves over the audience, over the sound coming from the stage, and over the main mix.

This would often lead to an arms race of ever-increasing stage volume, potentially causing feedback issues and compromises in clarity and quality for the live mix.

Custom in-ear monitors from JH Audio, one of the first commercial brands to make a name for itself in the IEM market.

With the advent of in-ear monitors, all this began to change.Â In the mid-1980s,Â EtymoticÂ developed the first-ever insert-styleÂ earphones, and soon after, a designer namedÂ Marty GarciaÂ began making one-off custom in-ears for rock stars like Todd Rundgren.

By 1995, Jerry Harvey, founder ofÂ Ultimate EarsandÂ JH Audio,Â brought some ofÂ the first commercially-available dual-driver IEMs to market. All of a sudden,Â everyday musicians had an option that allowed usÂ to save our hearing, get better monitor mixes, and dramatically reduce the chances of feedback onstage.

Today, IEMs are increasingly being considered useful tools for the studio as well. Their ability to prevent sound leakage can be of tremendous value in helping to control click and instrument bleed, and in saving musiciansâ hearing by allowing them to monitor at lower levels.

Some musicians and engineers, such as drummer Rich Pagano ofÂ The Fab Faux, will use IEMs to quickly check for phase when micâing up a drum kit, while others turn to IEMs as a kind of audio microscope, using them to help check for and remove extraneous low-level noise.

Any modern musician would be wise to consider adding in-ear monitors to their toolkit. But is it worth it to dish out the extra money on custom fit IEMs, instead of saving some money with the generic fit ones?

In testing a variety of in-ear monitors from brands like Westone, Ultimate Ears, Future Sonics, and even Skullcandy (that last of which is not recommended for professional use), I have found that there are cases in which generic fit earphones may work better than their custom counterparts. Making the right decision for your needs comes down to considering the following four factors:

1)Â Cost

Ultimate Ears custom fit in-ear monitors.

Custom fit IEMs tend to cost more than generic fit ones, as it takes more time and effort for the manufacturer to craft a product designed specifically for the unique anatomy of your ear.

Getting custom IEMs made also requires that you go to an audiologist to make a mold of your ear canal that the IEM company can then use to make your monitors fit as well as possible.

Take note of both of these costs, which can range from $100-$200 or more for a fitting from an audiologist, and $299-$1499 or more for the custom monitors to be made.

In my experience, custom fit IEMs can feel a little tight in the ear canal compared to generics, especially at first. Hearing so little acoustic feedback from your performance can also take some getting used to, and the tight seal of custom fit in-ears can feel particularly awkward when signing.

Because of this, my looser-fittingÂ Westone 3Â generic IEMs actually feel more comfortable to me on vocal duties, so I often find myself using them over my custom fitÂ Future SonicsÂ when I step up to the mic.

Though the tight fit of custom IEMs and lack of acoustic feedback from your performance can be a challenge, itâs worth noting that generic foam-tip IEMs also provide their own tradeoffs: The looser fit of generics can sometimes create a bit of a tingling or âticklingâ feeling in your ear when playing at higher volumes, so it may be useful to have a pair of each and go with what feels best depending on the date and venue.

Silicone-based Encore Studio custom IEMs from ACS.

Another option here is the custom fit brandACS, which makes its IEMs out of soft silicone shells.

This softer silicone-based design is meant to offer both better comfort and a tighter fit than the hard acrylic shells used by brands like Westone and Ultimate Ears.

Though these silicone monitors sell for a premium price of $400-$1,200 and up, they may help bridge the gap between the tight seal of custom acrylics and the looser and easier fit of foam-tipped generic IEMs.

3)Â Hearing Protection

In addition to cutting down on sound leakage to help improve sound quality and reduce feedback, another primary benefit of IEMs is that they can offer considerable hearing protection by helping to block out exterior noise, allowing you to monitor at lower levels.

Some of the best custom fit brands likeÂ JH AudioÂ andÂ Ultimate EarsÂ offer NRR ratings of 26dB in reduction, and some of the better generic brands advertise comparable results as well. (Though your results with generics may vary depending on the fit and seal in your ear.)

In the long term, reducing the levels youâre regularly exposed toâeven by a few extra decibelsâcould mean the difference between a long and illustrious career as a âgolden-earedâ audio engineer and potentialtinnitusÂ and irreversible hearing loss.

Also worth checking out is theÂ REV33Â system, which can be added on to yourÂ your in-ear-monitoring system to help reduce distortion and ear strain. Many live musicians, includingÂ Phil XÂ and Steve Salas swear by the system. According to the company:

âAll in-ear monitors and headphones generate damaging, unwanted noise and distortion that forces the ear to shut down and compress for protection. The REV33 reduces the symptoms of tinnitus, ear-ringing, ear-fatigue, buzzing and dampened hearing by preventing in-ear monitors and headphones from producing this unwanted noise and distortion.â

4)Â WaitingÂ and TimeÂ Considerations

After getting my first pair of IEMâs made, I found that the right ear monitor turned out well, but I was not getting a proper seal in the left ear at first. This made the monitors essentially useless for my live sound needs at the time, and so I had to send them back for some tweaking.

When I got them back a couple of weeks later, the seal still wasnât great, so I had to send them back once again for further modification, and visit my audiologist a second time to take another impression of my ear canal to send in.

Getting the perfect fit turned out to be quite a time-consuming process (as well as an expensive one) so unless youâre on the hunt for a long-term solution with as much acoustic isolation as humanly possible, you might satisfice with generic IEMs, or keep some around as an alternate option.

In that case, I would recommend the generic in-ears from Ultimate Ears, Shure, or Westone.

Ultimate Earsâ generic fit UE900 model sports 4 drivers for $400.

TheÂ Ultimate Ears UE900âs are a great sounding 4-driver IEM that only costs $399, while the $99Â Shure SE215Â single-driver IEMs advertise an astonishing 37dB of noise reduction (more than most custom IEMs) at a great price.

My own triple-driver Westone 3âs (since replaced by theÂ W30 model) are the most comfortable in ear monitors I own right now, and they isolate a lot more noise than most thanks to their foam-tip construction.

Compared to custom in-ears, any of these model can potentially save you time and money, or work as a welcome supplement for those times when the tight fit of custom in-ears feels irksome.

I hope my experiences here help you make the right decision when you go to buy your own IEMs. In short, I found that less-expensive generic foam-tipped IEMs worked better for me in many situations, and the savings enabled me to spend my money on better drivers with a fuller sound.

If youâve used IEMâs in the past, let us know in the comments below whether you prefer custom fits or generic fit ones, and why.